And he spake a parable unto those that were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief seats; saying unto them, "When thou art bidden of any man to a marriage feast, sit not down in the chief seat; lest haply a more honorable man than thou be bidden of him, and he that bade thee and him shall come and say to thee, 'Give this man place'; and then thou shalt begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest place; that when he that hath bidden thee cometh, he may say to thee, 'Friend, go up higher'; then shalt thou have glory in the presence of all that sit at meat with thee. For every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled: and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." And he said to him also that had bidden him, "When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, nor thy kinsmen, nor rich neighbors; lest haply they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, bid the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed; because they have not wherewith to recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed in the resurrection of the just. |